Plan to put alternative schools together is news to parents

Lisa Chamoff, Staff Writer

Published 10:40 pm, Tuesday, November 16, 2010

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In this June 2008 file photo, Selectwoman Lin Lavery gets turns things up as she steps up to the microphone to give the commencement address during the Community Learning Program of Greenwich High School's graduation ceremony. less

In this June 2008 file photo, Selectwoman Lin Lavery gets turns things up as she steps up to the microphone to give the commencement address during the Community Learning Program of Greenwich High School's ... more

Photo: File Photo

Plan to put alternative schools together is news to parents

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Parents were surprised to learn this week that the district is looking to bring the town's two alternative high schools together under one roof, and are wondering why they weren't informed sooner about a plan that seems to be moving forward.

Laurence Gilgore, whose daughter is a student in the Community Learning Program, said he learned about the plan from a story in Monday's Greenwich Time.

District officials are currently negotiating a lease for a new space that would potentially house both the ARCH School, which serves teens with emotional and behavioral issues, and CLP, a small program geared toward students who haven't been successful academically at Greenwich High School.

ARCH School, which moved to a district-owned building on East Elm Street in 2007, is outgrowing the space, officials said. CLP has been based at Sacred Heart Church in Byram for the past several years.

Gilgore said that when he recently called to get more information, the head of CLP also had limited knowledge of the situation.

"I find it, to say the least, arrogant of administrators to make the move ahead with these plans without any input from the teachers, parents and students," Gilgore said.

Gerald Stinson, the program associate for CLP, said he did know a move was being considered, but before this week he was not aware that a decision had been made. Since the story ran, Stinson has received calls from a few parents.

"Naturally, this represents a change, so they're more than curious," Stinson said. "We still have lots of questions about when and how. I imagine those answers will be made available."

Superintendent of Schools Sidney Freund said that while the district is currently negotiating a lease for a new site, plans are far from certain, which is why they haven't widely publicized them. The district has been looking for a new home for the ARCH School for a number of years, he said.

"I think we didn't want to get too far out ahead, because if we weren't successful in terms of a lease, it would be pointless to go into a transition period," Lichtenfeld said.

Freund mentioned the possible move earlier this month when presenting his proposed budget for 2011-12, which includes $200,000 to relocate the programs. He called it a "placeholder," since nothing official has been worked out.

"We're still in an exploratory stage, but I had to put it in the budget," Freund said.

Plans in 2007 to move ARCH School in with CLP at Sacred Heart Church were met with opposition from those affiliated with the church's other tenants, which included a private preschool.

Lichtenfeld said he wanted to stress that the district's intent is not to merge the two programs.

"All we're doing at this point is negotiating for vastly improved educational space," Lichtenfeld said. "I understand why parents would be concerned about it. We wouldn't want to invest this much additional money if we didn't believe students would be the beneficiaries of it."

Staff Writer Lisa Chamoff can be reached at lisa.chamoff@scni.com or 203-625-4439.